Tales from the TARDIS (Ten)
by ArnettV
Summary: Travelling with the Doctor is always exciting; there's monsters, aliens, villains, heroes, and sometimes you even battle yourself. But what happens in between all these wild adventures when you're drifting inside a blue box or lounging at a flat? The TARDIS knows all the tales. Series of one-shot stories from my story The Sparrow and the Doctor. Ten/OC
1. Christmas Dinner

**Another round of Tales from the TARDIS, this time with the tenth Doctor starting off at the end of "The Christmas Invasion." **

**For those of you who have read the ninth Doctor's Tales from the TARDIS, the same rules apply, but I'll repeat them any way. This is a spinoff story from my other Doctor Who fanfiction, _The Sparrow and the Doctor._ It is not necessary to read this to understand what is happening in the main story. Although, if you wish to read this without actually reading the main story, there is some basic information you need to know. Alison Sparrow was dragged from her universe to the Doctor's by the rift in Cardiff where she is now travelling the universe with the Time Lord himself and many other companions. In her own universe, Sparrow was a whovian like many of you readers, and brought with her the knowledge of the long running science fiction television show, _Doctor Who. _During the events of the Game Station in "The Parting of Ways," Sparrow absorbed a part of the Time Vortex where she is now being transformed into a Time Lord herself. Recent events are still unfolding in _The Sparrow and the Doctor _as I post chapter updates.**

**These will just be a series of one-shot stories with no real connection between each chapter. I will try to post them in order of events that actually do occur in the universe, for instance, this story is a further explanation on the end of the "Christmas Invasion" chapter after, to many reader's delight, Sparrow and the Doctor shared their first kiss.**

**Because writing outside the main story can be fun as well, I see this as a great way to add more, incorporate my own idea, thoughts, and situations these characters could possibly get in to. **

**So, the first chapter isn't much extra from what we've seen, but a nice little starter for the story.**

**Please note: I do NOT own Doctor Who or any if it's characters and stories.**

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Christmas Dinner

"We're on our way up now," the Doctor shouted up towards Jessica as he grabbed Sparrow's hand, lacing their fingers together. He pulled her along before her annoyance got the better of her and she shouted some obscenity at the smirking girl above. They passed through the garden's gate and up the stairs to the third level of the building where Jessica greeted them with a knowing smile. She didn't need to see what the two were doing to know what had just happened and couldn't be happier for her friend as she saw the two of them through the red door of the flat.

Sparrow and the Doctor were hit with a blast of aroma as they entered the living room; roasted turkey, peas, brussel sprouts, gravy, and stuffing. But as Sparrow gave one last sniff of the air, she also got the hint of burning food and looked over to the kitchen to see Andy overcooking the stuffing. She quickly let go of the Doctor's hand and ran in to fix the mess, slapping the spoon out of Andy's hands and using a dish rag to take the pan off the stove.

The Doctor watched in amusement as she scolded Andy for his poor cooking skill and eventually pushed him out of the kitchen as she took his place preparing dinner. Jackie was in the kitchen as well, slaving away as she cooked a special Christmas dinner for her daughter and Mickey while Sparrow worked beside her doing the same for Jessica and Andy. It appeared to be that the only time the two got along was when they were in the kitchen and quite frankly, the lack of bickering between Sparrow and Jackie was already making the Christmas better than most had started.

Andy had joined Mickey as they both worked on decorating a Christmas tree at the corner of the room, one that would hopefully not try to kill them this time. But as they continued dropping tinsel over the branches and hanging up decorative baubles and lights, nothing attacked the group as they enjoyed a nice night with family and friends.

Rose was helping Jessica set the table for the large group of seven, placing plates, silverware, dishes, glasses, and napkins. Finishing the task quickly, Rose looked through the collection of music Jessica and Sparrow had stored away in the closet and eventually settled on Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" mix CD. Jessica took to criticising Mickey and her brother as she swore the tree was crooked and they needed to straighten it. The boys saw nothing wrong with the angle however and proceeded to continue hanging decorations on the tree.

The Doctor was delighted as he watched the two families joining for Christmas. He didn't doubt they didn't do this every year seeing as Sparrow and Rose were near the best of friends but still enjoyed the sight of everyone basking in the Christmas spirit, so took to watching each person with their task. His favorites were watching Jessica haggle with Andy and Mickey over decorations, and observing Sparrow as she fluttered about the kitchen preparing dinner with Jackie, her heels much more audible against the tile floor as they clacked every time she moved as compared to the older woman's trainers. Now, she had pulled her hair back in a hair tie behind her shoulders and had donned an apron over her red dress while she worked, good thing too because Jackie had almost spilled gravy on her. She hummed while she cooked, not to the music Rose was playing just on the other side of the counter, but her own tune inside her head, "Song for Ten." It made a large grin grow on her face as she sung inside her head, and it only grew even larger as she looked up to the Doctor, watching her and the others with interest. He smiled back and could have sworn that as he did so, the girl let out a giggle, interesting him further.

Finally, dinner was ready as Jackie emerged from the kitchen with a large golden turkey, cheering as she called everyone to the table. "Alright, alright. Come one everyone, before it gets cold." She set the platter down in the center of the table and Sparrow followed behind her, a dish in each hand as she set those down as well.

Mickey jumped forward the begin carving the turkey. He picked up the knife Jessica had set at the center of the table next to a large serving fork and he dug right in, slicing into the bird. He set down the knife, trying to serve a piece on a plate, but Rose reached over and plucked the meat off the fork before it could be served. He playfully chided the girl and Rose couldn't help but let out a burst of laughter in response.

"Careful, you might lose a finger with this one carving the turkey," Andy taunted and Jessica gave him a slap on the arm.

"Hey! Be nice, it's Christmas."

"Doesn't mean he's any better."

Mickey offered Andy the knife and fork as a challenge. "Well come on, show us how it's done."

Andy took the set obligingly and began to cut another slice into the meat. Rose didn't see a difference as she plucked the cut piece from the fork just as she did with Mickey and popped it in her mouth. All she really cared about was that it tasted good, and that's what really mattered in the end.

"Rose, save some for the rest of us," Jackie pleaded with her daughter through laughter and the girl finally complied, allowing the next piece Andy cut to actually make it on the plate.

Sparrow brought out the last tray of food and was about to sit down herself when she spotted the Doctor inching towards the front door. "Oh, no you don't." She grabbed the sleeve of his arm and led the man to a chair at the top of the table. "You're going to enjoy this dinner with the rest of us. Now come on."

The Doctor had no choice but to comply as she forcefully removed his coat and draped it over the chair, pushing the man in the seat next. He gave a small scowl as Sparrow playfully ruffled his hair, but then smiled when she removed her apron and let her hair down, sitting in the chair next to his and Christmas dinner was served.

They ate and laughed and cheered, and when the Christmas crackers came out, the fun only increased. Each opened their crackers, placing the small tissue crown on their heads and groaning at the jokes inside. Jessica even managed to find a joke about Santa Claus, a doctor, and low "elf" esteem. They each wore their paper crowns too; Sparrow a blue one, Mickey an orange, Rose got her pink one, Jessica and the Doctor both had matching red ones, Andy switched with Jackie so she had pink to match her daughter, and donned a green crown himself.

Shortly after, Rose recognised Harriet Jones, the soon to be former Prime Minister, on the telly making a speech. "Look, it's Harriet Jones." She pointed to the screen and the others turned to see as well.

The Doctor stood and reached into his pocket to pull out a pair of tortoiseshell frame glasses, putting them on to watch the broadcast.

Sparrow wasn't paying any attention to the Prime Minister on the screen however as she noted the Doctor's new accessory, and rose from her seat to meet him. "Ooh, the brainy specs!" she cheered excitedly and plucked the glasses off the Doctor's nose, placing them on her own.

"Hey! I need those," the man objected, completely ignoring the television now, but she only shook her head.

"No you don't," she called in a near singsong voice.

"Oh, and how do you know that?"

"Because I have the same pair." Sparrow moved to grab her black frame glasses from the counter and handed them to the Doctor to examine as he placed them where his own glasses used to be. "There's no magnification. They just make you look clever." She smiled tauntingly with the Doctor's glasses on her nose and gave him a knowing smile.

Past the pair, something had caught Andy's eye out the window and he moved to look. "It's snowing!" he shouted with near excitement, and the others looked out the window as well with bewilderment. Upon seeing the truth for themselves, they each grabbed their jackets and headed outside to the garden.

"Come on you two!" Jessica shouted at the Doctor and Sparrow who were the last ones to leave, dawdling behind the rest.

As they stepped outside, snow-like flakes were in fact flurrying throughout the sky leaving a light, white powder over the ground. Above were bright streaks of light painting the sky as they zoomed by in every direction creating a magnificent display for the people below.

"Oh, it's beautiful. What are they, meteors?" Rose asked is awe as her head was tilted towards the sky, unable to tear her eyes away from the view.

Sparrow was about to answer but found her stomach twisting at the thought of the dead Sycorax she could have saved, trying not to let it ruin her Christmas night. The Doctor then moved to answer upon her silence. "It's the spaceship breaking up in the atmosphere. This isn't snow," He pointed to the falling flakes. "It's ash."

Jessica gagged a little realising she had tried to catch a few of the supposed snowflakes on her tongue. "Alright, maybe not."

"This is a brand new planet Earth. No denying the existence of aliens now. Everyone saw it. Everything's new," the Doctor noted, and Rose fidgeted uneasily next to the man.

"And what about you? What are you going to do next?"

The Doctor looked at the TARDIS across the lot, then back at the two girls next to him; Rose watching hopefully that she could continue traveling with him, but Sparrow smiling excitedly, already knowing what was to come.

"Well, back to the TARDIS. Same old life."

"And we're coming too of course!" Sparrow blurted out as a statement rather than a question or a request.

Rose was more reserved though as she actually did ask to be sure. "Can we though?"

The Doctor had no doubts that Sparrow was still willing to travel with the changed man, their moment before dinner proving enough. But he thought Rose was still a little unsure. "I just thought, because I changed."

Rose quickly picked up on what he was talking about and expressed her own worries. "Yeah, I thought, because you changed you might not want me anymore."

"Oh, I'd love for the both of you to come," the Doctor admitted and Rose smiled while Sparrow actually reddened, unsure why.

She quickly recovered though and took a deep breath towards the man. "That's just brilliant! You were always my favorite you know."

Now the Doctor blushed a little and was thankful a moment as Mickey cut in. "You're never going to stay, are you?" he asked, disappointed that Rose was leaving again.

"There's just so much out there. So much to see," she answered, not entirely sure of how to put it in words. "I've got to."

"Well, I reckon you're mad, the three of you. It's like you go looking for trouble," Jackie quipped. Her daughter may have enjoyed the vastness of the universe, but she saw nothing but trouble about it.

"Trouble's just the bits in-between," the Doctor urged as he slung an arm around Jackie's shoulder. "It's all waiting out there, Jackie, and it's brand new to me. All those planets and creatures and horizons. I haven't seen them yet! Not with these eyes."

He released the woman and walked back towards his two companions, now draping his right arm over Sparrow's shoulder, though this time the action was more delicate and caring than a friendly gesture. It almost made Andy frown. "And it is going to be fantastic."

Sparrow looked behind her at the man and smiled to mirror his own. "So, which way do we want to go first?"

The Doctor studied the dark sky for a moment as he thought. "Um, that way." Both the girl's followed his finger as he pointed to a distant star, but then he corrected himself. "No, hold on." His hand shifted slightly to the right. "That way."

"Hm?" Sparrow appraised the direction with an approving nod and the man looked down at her, lowering his hand and waiting for a response. "Sounds amazing."

The Doctor smiled and rested his head against Sparrow's as they looked out at the night sky, just thinking of the exciting adventures and stories to come.

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**Nothing too special, but a bit extra from what I didn't put in the end of the real chapter story.**

**Anyway, as I have said before, this type of story is great to incorporate my ideas and even situations that you guys would like to see the Doctor and Sparrow getting into. This will progress all throughout the tenth Doctor's regeneration so that includes all his other companions as well, not just Rose who is the only companion written into the main story at this point.**

**Let me know what you all think.**

**Love!**


	2. It Doesn't Matter

**Hey, just like I promised! I managed to post it within a day. **

**Anyway, this is a continuation to "The Idiot's Lantern" chapter from _The Sparrow and the Doctor_ story. Complete smut, small amount of fluff at the beginning. Meh. So call this an explicit content warning.**

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It Doesn't Matter

"Sparrow, wait!" the Doctor shouted, racing for the doors and after the girl as he tried to catch up with her, realising what had happened.

He burst through the med bay doors, trying to follow Sparrow but the further he ran through the halls, the more he was convinced that we wasn't headed anywhere towards the direction of her room. The Doctor stopped, looked around at the identical walls of the corridor, and frowned.

"Really, you're going to do this now?" the man asked his machine and the lights flickered in answer, but it wasn't the answer he wanted. "Okay, well what if she really doesn't understand? I'm not leaving anything to chance." Then he stormed off down the hall again and, with what sounded like a sigh from the TARDIS' engines, turned the corner to see Sparrow's white wooden door.

The Doctor blinked and mumbled a thanks to the TARDIS before knocking briefly on the door and stepping through. "Sparrow?" he called out when there was no sign of the girl.

"I'm in here." Her voice rang from the closed bathroom door and the Doctor remembered she had said she was going to take a shower. He thought it was just an excuse to leave the room, but apparently not.

He moved to stand by the bathroom door so she could hear him more clearly and tried making sure Sparrow understood what had happened. "Are you okay?" he decided to start with and inside the bathroom, Sparrow looked in the mirror confused.

She was thinking to herself and found another flurry of questions had already begun to plague her new and improved mind. _How stupid could I be to think that the Doctor would want the same thing as me? I was ready and he obviously wasn't. _She silently slapped the heel of her palm against her forehead and another voice in the back of her mind began to comment. _What if he's never ready? _

Sparrow groaned at this thought and finally answered the Doctor's question through the door. "Yep. Everything's fine." An obvious lie. Then she lowered her voice enough that she was sure he couldn't hear past the barrier separating them. "Just dandy."

"Right, good," he nodded on the other side of the door, even if Sparrow couldn't see. He was about to leave it at that, but decided better. "Well, you see, the thing is, I wanted to talk to you about what had happened back there." The Doctor paused when there was no acknowledgment and elaborated, "In your mind."

Now, Sparrow knew what he was getting at. "You mean that kiss?" The girl had already determined that she _was _going to take a shower no matter what the Doctor wanted to talk to her about and began stripping the horrid hospital gown from her body, grateful to have it off her skin. She tossed it aside to the corner of the bathroom and took another look at herself in the mirror, bare skinned with absolutely no covering; she thought she looked attractive, she was sure the Doctor thought so too.

"That's just it though," the Doctor called, distracting the woman from her examination. "It wasn't really just a kiss, was it?"

"You tell me," Sparrow spat from her side of the door, perhaps a little too harshly, but she was also aggravated from what could only be described as the Doctor teasing her.

Now the Doctor groaned. He was really trying to talk this out with Sparrow but she was making it all the more difficult, not without good reason though, he had to admit. He had gotten her all riled up inside her own mind and then pulled away at the last moment before things could really progress further. For that he wanted to apologise, but also explain why.

"It's more that, I wanted to make sure that you knew where we were going with all that action. Because, you had to admit, it _wasn't _just a kiss, not by the point we were at, and I needed to know you were okay with where it was going," he explained, and was slightly shocked by the girl's reaction.

Sparrow scoffed from her side of the door. "You mean sex? That's what you wanted to talk about?" She even gave a slight chuckle as she leaned past the glass door of the shower to turn the nozzle on and let hot water flow.

"Yes," the Doctor admitted and raised his voice so he could still be heard over the running water. "Look, can we talk about this like adults for a moment, out here, face to face?"

Suddenly, the door to the bathroom swung open and Sparrow's head poked through. Her red hair cascaded over her bare shoulders and concealed anything else that might have been exposed from the absence of clothing. "You have two options; come inside the bathroom with me, or stay out here and shout through the door. Either way, I'm going to take have a wash like I said and enjoy the feeling of hot water enveloping my skin."

Then, almost as quickly as she had appeared, Sparrow's head ducked into the bathroom. She stepped back into the bathroom, but left the door open for the man to make his choice, and proceeded into the shower, closing the glass door behind her. After a few moments, Sparrow guessed the Doctor made his choice to remain outside the door as no form was visible past the quickly fogging panels of the shower wall, and dunked her head under the running water. Her hair began to soak and fall heavily down her back, and she had to consider it one of the best feelings in the world, next to the Doctor's hands on her, she qualified.

Her mind began to drift back to just a few moments ago as the steam from the shower wasn't the only thing to fog her mind, but also moments of desire and what they might have become. To the girl's dismay though, she was snapped out of her shower daydream by the Doctor himself as he settled on the wall outside the bathroom door and finally spoke up again.

"I realise this is something to easily joke about. You and Rose seem to do it all the time," the Doctor began to point out. "But I want to know that you understand what this means."

"I'm not a child, Doctor," Sparrow shouted loud enough so she was sure he could hear the annoyance in her voice. "As awkward as it may be to talk about with _you_, I have had sex before, I know the implications." She paused for a moment and thought. _Do I really know anything about Time Lord sex? What if there's some sort of weird ritual or something. I'm assuming they have all the same parts as humans. _

The Doctor inadvertently answered Sparrow's unspoken questions as he didn't qualify her figuring and moved the conversation forward. "I know that. I know. You are a beautiful, intelligent, clever, and quite frankly, fiery woman. And when I say beautiful, I don't just mean your looks. Everything from the way you strut out of the TARDIS with confidence each time, when you tap your head because you know something, that smirk you always have."

He gave a small chuckle as he began to picture each of these actions in his head. Sparrow herself had nearly forgotten she was in the shower as she stood under the water, wringing her hands around her hair, just listening to what had to be the largest compliment the Doctor had ever given her.

"I completely understand that you know what is entailed, but with this new life that you're going to live as a Time Lord, I want to make sure _that_ is what you fully understand, and what it means as a life with me," the Doctor continued and Sparrow shut the water off so she could pay closer attention, now intrigued and genuinely interested as she began to dry herself. "I think it's needless to say that it's been a very long time since I've cared about someone as much as I cared about you, and I want to travel with you for the rest of my lives. Now, I don't intend for that to sound like something it isn't, but it also doesn't mean that it shouldn't be either because there are things that are even hard for me to explain."

His train of thought was already beginning to trail off, so he paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "This life as a Time Lord you have now is hard and lonely, one that I've survived on my own for so long now. I want you to understand that I would gladly wait a thousand regenerations if it means being with you when you're ready. I don't want to push you until then."

The Doctor had heard no response since Sparrow shut the water off and didn't even know if she was listening anymore. "Sparrow, you still in there?"

Indeed she had heard every word and understood what the Doctor was afraid of. He thought he was pushing her farther than she wanted to go, that his loneliness was projecting onto her and she would have slept with him out of pity perhaps. The girl shook her head and with her hand grasped around the damp towel she had used, pressed her arm through the crack in the bathroom door, offering it to the man outside.

"Hold this," she commanded and the Doctor looked at her arm protruding from the bathroom oddly, wondering why she was giving him her towel, but took it anyway. The girl's arm retracted and eventually she signaled for him to keep going. "I'm still listening."

"Right, yeah." The Doctor nodded to the damp white towel now in his hands and spat out his main point that Sparrow had already figured. "I want to make sure you understand what I'm trying to say and that you're ready to be with me. That there's nothing else pushing you to do so. It has to be your decision, and no matter what it is, I'll honour it."

The door swung open and as the Doctor turned to look, he was almost hit with a moment of déjà vu. Mist swirled around Sparrow, like tendrils of white energy as the Doctor remembered Rose coming back to the Game Station to save him almost a lifetime ago as the Bad Wolf, emerging from the TARDIS with the powers of a Goddess. But as the mist began to dissipate, he saw it was just Sparrow as she was now; a freshly transformed Time Lord emerging from her shower, no enhanced cosmic power added.

She was wrapped in a small silk dressing gown, a sheen black color. Sparrow stepped into the cool air of her room and smiled sympathetically at the Doctor. "I understand, I do," she responded to the man's concern and walked over to her dresser, opening the top drawer. But as she spoke, she wasn't really busying herself with looking through it as her mind wandered elsewhere.

"It's like what I showed you. You've been a part of my life for a long time, even though I'm only now really becoming a part of yours. When I first met you, you changed me for the better, made my life enjoyable, and since you met me, you've only continued to do the same." She picked up a pair of panties from her drawer and in one swift action, turned, and shot them off her thumbs at the Doctor. He caught them without realising what they were, and then stared at the white lace cloth, dropping them to the ground almost immediately after.

He looked up at Sparrow like she was mad and was about to speak, but she cut over him as she continued. "I just tossed my knickers for you to see plain as day," She stepped forwards and bent down to pick up the undergarment from the Doctor's feet. As she rose back to his height again, she was just inches away as the man could smell the soap she used in her hair. "And it doesn't matter. I see the way people stare at my body and ogle my figure, but it doesn't matter." Sparrow shook her head and tossed her panties back in their drawer. "You very nearly hated me when we first met, but I don't care because that doesn't matter."

Then she reached out and grabbed the Doctor's hand, placing it over her dressing gown on her abdomen. She began to lead his touch up her torso, but when his hand reached just below the center of her breasts, he tried to pull away, though the girl wouldn't let him. Sparrow tightened her hold and kept pressing up until the Doctor's fingers just barely touched her clavicle. "You have touched my soul and very nearly changed every part of me," She let out a laugh at how true that statement really was. "And quite literally too."

Sparrow looked down at the Doctor's hand over her chest as she held it in place and he could feel her hearts beating profusely at his touch. She looked back up to the man and smiled, now reaching up to cup his face in her hand, releasing his own. "But like I've said already, It doesn't matter because I have you right here, right now."

She leaned in close, their lips just mere spaces away as Sparrow ghosted her lips over his, but she didn't actually kiss him, not yet. She knew that she wanted the Doctor, and she was very willing to tell him. In fact, she thought that she already had, though apparently not well enough because of the conversation they were having. But even more so, Sparrow wanted to see just how badly the Doctor craved her as she continued to tease the man. She wanted to watch him squirm and writhe in his skin as she gave him everything but nothing and see how long he would hold out, hoping that the next time it wouldn't take so long to give in.

Sparrow opened her lips and the Doctor was taking in every breath that Sparrow exhaled. Their noses were right next to each other and her lips began to quiver as if she were about to move them to speak, but no words came out. Instead, her body pressed flush against the Doctor's and he could feel nearly every inch of her past the thin cloth she wore.

Finally, she spoke. "All I care about is you. And I know none of this may be getting through to you, so here's my decision, a nice simple answer." She paused again, tempting the Doctor as her lips moved over his. His arms were itching to grab Sparrow right then and throw her in the bed, but he needed an answer first.

"I chose you. All of you, all that you ever will be. I _want_ you."

Just as Sparrow barely got the last of her words out, the Doctor pressed forwards and nearly hit their teeth together in anticipation. The action escalated quickly, both already hot and burning for each other as hands began to roam. The Doctor was lucky as Sparrow was only wearing her dressing gown, the girl however, was working fervently to undress the fully clothed man.

The buttons on his jacket came undone simply enough; he only had the first two done up, and even with Sparrow's fumbling fingers, she managed to undo those in mere seconds. She had come to the conclusion that arousal was a great motivator. She pushed the jacket off his shoulders and the Doctor proceeded to tear it off, all the while never separating his lips from Sparrow's. His hands had started to clench in the hair at the nape of her neck but slowly began to move down, first to her shoulders, then pushing the top of her robe away to splay his hands against the small of her back.

Each touch, every caress the Doctor made on Sparrow's skin only made it all the harder for her to concentrate as she pulled the brown silk tie loose around his collar. Eventually frustrated as it seemed she lost all control to her want for the Doctor, she pulled back, separating their lips and lifted the tie over his head, dropping it to the floor. She would have loved to use it in their escapade, but Sparrow didn't have the patience for kinky foreplay.

That being so, her hands traced back down to the Doctor's collared shirt where she dug her nails in between the buttons and tore the shirt apart, each of the small fasteners clattering to the ground, effectively ruining the shirt from being worn again.

The Doctor didn't care about the shirt though, he had others. He was more preoccupied with the girl in front of him, gazing at him with a burning desire in her eyes, so he did the next thing he thought appropriate. The Doctor picked Sparrow up by the waist, pulled her to his body, and threw them both of them down on her bed. He had incredibly managed to multitask this while somehow snaking his way out of his trousers and briefs, leaving them thrown across the floor. The piece of furniture groaned under their weight as Sparrow's back collided with the sheets and her head narrowly missed the headboard.

Even if it did hit, she wasn't even sure she would have noticed she was too enveloped with the Doctor's hands running all over her body. Fingers against her calf, his touch, hardly calloused from his regenerated body, slowly caressing up her legs as the feeling teased her.

She wasn't sure whether one of them had undone the tie on her dressing gown, or if all of their frantic snogging had merely undone the knot itself, either way, she was grateful as the Doctor's lips connected with the skin under her neck and slowly, teasingly began to trail down her body while his hands still worked their way up her sides now, feeling every inch of Sparrow that there was. They were just small pecks, but each kiss made Sparrow moan and tremble under his touch. Each time he pulled away, her body would arch upwards, just to stay in contact with him a little bit longer.

Heat pulsed between her legs for the Doctor, and Sparrow began to worry that she may dissolve into pleasure before anything really happened. Then her center began to twitch as heat pooled in her lower abdomen. Oh, God, she was so close but they had hardly done anything yet. _It has been too long_, Sparrow concluded, but somehow the Doctor seemed to know and pulled away as he hovered over Sparrow on his hands and knees.

She was slightly relieved, but couldn't help as she pouted from the lack of contact and let out a huff of annoyance. It almost made the man laugh, but as Sparrow laid there, looking up at the Doctor, he was all she saw; nothing else existed around them and it was like she was floating in black space again with only him.

She reach up and ran her hands over the taut skin of his clavicle, fingers trailing down his chest where they ran through the tuff of hair on his chest. The Doctor was lean, but with one of those athletic builds as Sparrow could see each muscle ripple under his skin when her touches caused the smallest of suspenseful spasms in his body.

Their eyes connected and Sparrow's body began to coil again. "I want _you_, Doctor," she breathed in encouragement. Her head was already drunk on the Doctor, each sense completely filled with him, but she wanted more and spread her legs, her clit throbbing at the desire she felt.

His body seemed to shudder in pleasure at his name and leaned down to press his lips against hers. It was soft, tender, and then Sparrow felt a jolt of surprise and warmth as the Doctor slowly slid into her. She gasped and moaned breathlessly at the feeling and when he was all the way inside, he paused giving Sparrow the chance to adjust.

After what felt like it was beginning to become too long, Sparrow became anxious and impatient. Her hips began to twitch and grind against the Doctor's, hoping he didn't forget the general steps of intercourse. Then his own hips began to thrust, in then out, again and again as Sparrow felt every inch of the Doctor fill her.

Pleasure raced to every nerve ending on Sparrow's body as her toes curled, fists balled into the sheets, and her head was thrown back into the pillows. His thrusts caught at a steady pace as pants, moans, and heavy breathing filled the room. In some part of her mind, Sparrow was really hoping that the TARDIS rooms were soundproof, but on another level, she didn't care at all; let the whole universe hear as the Doctor rasped out Sparrow's name and she responded with her own howls of pleasure.

Her back arched off the bed and the Doctor took the chance to wrap one arm around her waist, the other holding her hip to steady himself as he ground harder into Sparrow, grinding faster as each thrust pushed him nearer to the edge. Her legs wrapped around his, pulling with each drive into her center as they were brought closer.

Sparrow moaned out in pleasure as he buried himself inside of her over and over, rapidly increasing in momentum. "Oh, God. Oh, God, oh, bloody God!"

"Sparrow, are-" Sparrow was swearing quite more than she normally did and the Doctor would never forgive himself if something went wrong to ruin the moment.

"Just shut up and keep going," Sparrow choked through waves of ecstasy. If the Doctor kept going as he was, it wouldn't be long for her.

She threw her arms above her head and the Doctor followed, running his hands lightly up her skin until he intertwined their fingers together, essentially pinning Sparrow to the bed helplessly. The new view exposed everything about her for the Doctor as her back arched again at a deep thrust and she cried out at the wave of pleasure. Her large breasts, the dip in her neck, the smooth pale skin of her body, the curves of her waist. The Doctor chose the soft skin of Sparrow's neck as he buried his head in her shoulder, kissing and nibbling at the spot just under her jaw.

Another moan from Sparrow. "Oh! Doctor, I can't- I'm almost-" Blood was pumping so ferociously throughout Sparrow's body she could hardly hear herself, let alone finish a thought. Her breath caught in her throat and her vision of the Doctor began to blur as her abdomen began to coil.

Though most of her senses may have been muted by the edge of volcanic sensation, she could still feel the Doctor's hands slide down her arms rapidly, almost clumsily as his thrusts became more erratic. He was close, Sparrow could feel it and so was she. Then, the Doctor's fingers connected with her temples and she felt everything.

A white light blinded her vision as her head tossed back and her body tensed as it felt like electricity was rippling to every nerve inside her and the Doctor. There was a warmth in her pit that released and soon all the lust and pleasure began to fade as she rode out the shockwaves of her orgasm.

The Doctor collapsed on top of Sparrow as he removed his fingers from the sides of her head. She wanted to say something, but was finding it difficult to catch her breath as they both laid there, covered in a sheen layer of sweat.

"That was just," she managed between deep breaths and the Doctor lifted his head just enough to smile at her.

"I know," he finished, rolling to the side to lay on the bed next to Sparrow rather than use her as a pillow.

"Did we, psychic link at the end," she managed to ask, not entirely sure what happened, barely remembering, it had been a blur of desire and ecstasy.

"Sorry. I thought I would be a good idea to share, uh,"

"Orgasms?" Sparrow asked, snickering to herself as she managed to find enough energy to prop herself up on one arm and look at the man disbelievingly. "You really need to get used to talking about these things." The Doctor rolled his head to smile at her and the girl couldn't help but return it.

He opened his mouth to say something, but Sparrow cut over him. "Hey, Doctor," she started.

"Yeah?" he responded, waiting to hear what she had to say now.

"Shut up and just enjoy the moment," she smiled and the Doctor did as he was told as Sparrow laid herself back down onto the man's shoulder. "That was incredible, honestly and truly. But," Sparrow cheered in reassurance. "Next time, let's do this sooner so we don't explode. Better yet, let's just do it more often. Okay?"

The Doctor's smile grew as he wrapped an arm around Sparrow and ran his hand through her hair, petting her repeatedly. "Anything and everything you want," he cooed, and Sparrow smiled happily. She let her eyes flutter closed as the Doctor patted her head. She could hear the beating of his hearts through his chest and let the sound comfort her into a doze.

Equally, Sparrow began to hum "The Doctor's Theme," something she realised actually hadn't done in a long time. The Doctor recognised the song, having heard it many times before and had a pretty strong feeling as to what it actually was, even though Sparrow never told him the name of the song. He listened to the tune and let it lull him to sleep as the two began to drift off in each others arms, at peace for the time being.

* * *

**There we have it. I will say that I struggled for a while writing this small 8 page rompiness and I don't even have a clue if it's any good. I've researched but apparently the best way to write smut is just to practice and hash it out. I might come back one day and redo it to make it better. **

**However, in the meantime, if someone even wants to help me in making it decent now, yeah, I would be very grateful. I know that's not really how you're supposed to go through the editing process, but if I didn't post this now, then I'd be stuck on it for another month or so and I don't want to deprive your guys of furthering the storyline. **

**So now that that's out of the way, more story updates coming soon!**


	3. Parallel Torchwood

**As you may have guessed, this installment of _Tales from the TARDIS _goes along with the recently posted chapter, "Doomsday," for _The Sparrow and the Doctor. _Here we get to see more of a certain enigmatic but familiar individual during the Doctor's brief visit to the parallel Torchwood in Pete's world.**

* * *

Parallel Torchwood

The desolate and decrepit building of Torchwood was brought to life as the sound of electricity and sparks filled what used to be a lever room very similar to one in another world.

Jake and the Doctor appeared, the former dressed in his black commando outfit, and the other in his same brown pinstripe suit and tie.

"Parallel Earth, parallel Torchwood," the man with the spiky blonde hair explained.

They weren't the only ones in the room however as a female voice spoke up. "Except we were smart enough to put a stop to them before anything got out of control. Granted, it wasn't the top of my priorities at the time."

The Doctor looked and saw Sparrow leaning against one of the old, dusty desks except she was wearing different clothes than he last saw her in. She was in a black pant suit that almost reminded the man of Yvonne, though less power mad. "Sparrow? What are you-" His question was cut off as she smirked, and the Doctor realised what was happening. "Alison."

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Doctor. Fighting hard I hope," she responded in answer.

"Always."

"With Sparrow by your side as usual." It was a statement rather than a question.

The Doctor knew this as he stared hard at her, hoping she would understand. "Sparrow is over there, I've got to get back. Rose is in danger, and her mother." His voice was calm and demanding as he looked at the twin to his companion.

This time another voice spoke out as Pete entered from a corridor followed by two more black-clad fighters. "That'd be Jackie. My wife in a parallel universe. And as for you, Doctor," He paused as he shifted from eying the man, to glancing at Alison. "At least this time I know who your lot are."

"Right, yes, fine, hooray," the Doctor prattled, already growing impatient that no one was answering him directly. "But I've got to get back, right now."

"There's enough time for that, Doctor" Alison's voice boomed out and all eyes turned towards her. "You're going to stand here, and you're going to listen to us because without what we have to say, you'll lose more lives than you'd hope to save."

The Doctor swallowed thickly as he obeyed and waited for the girl to continue, but it wasn't her who would lay out the situation as she directed someone else. "Pete, explain."

She strode to the side of the room, standing to gaze out the large wall-sized windows, watching the city below, though anyone could tell she wasn't really seeing it.

"When you left this world, you warned us there'd be more Cybermen. So we sealed them inside the factories," Pete started, then Jake picked up.

"Except people argued. Said they were living. We should help them."

"And the debate went on. But all that time, the Cybermen made plans. Infiltrated this version of Torchwood, mapped themselves onto your world. Alison said it, she said that as soon as that happened, we wouldn't be able to find a single trace of them, and then they vanished."

The Doctor's eyes quickly darted over to the girl still staring aimlessly out the window. "When was this?" he asked, turning back to Pete.

"Three years ago."

"It's taken them three years to cross the void, but we can pop to and fro in a second," his brows stuck together as he thought about the result. "Must be the sheer mass of five million Cybermen crossing all at once."

Pete scoffed at the techno-talk, though simple this time, he remembered all the other times he was baffled by conversations far above his mental capacity. "You and Alison talk exactly the same. Never understand a word of it."

This time the Doctor turned to confront the girl as he approached her at the window, though she didn't seem to hear anything they were talking about. "Why are you here exactly?" he questioned curiously.

Alison turned her head to smirk teasingly at the man, breaking out of her cold stare for the first time in minutes. "Do you want me to get philosophical, or would you rather I just answer your questions on what's going on."

"Sparrow is worried to her core as to what you mean, what your being in this world means. It terrifies her," the Doctor pointed out, desperate to get an answer himself to something neither of them knew, though the girl in front of him obviously did as she shook her head.

"It's not something she has to worry about for a long time. Especially not now." Then she turned her head back towards the window. "Doctor, do you understand what's happening? Do you realise what the breach is doing to this world, _my _world?"

The man looked out the window with her, though he could see nothing apparently wrong. It looked as peaceful as he had ever seen London. "Not a clue. Everything looks top from here."

"It's all a lie," Pete interjected as he listed off the world's calculated symptoms. "Temperatures have risen by two degrees in the past six months. The ice caps are melting. They're saying all this is going to be flooded." He gestured to the city below.

"I've been trying to tell you," the Doctor cut over him. "Travel between parallel worlds is impossible. Then the Daleks break down the walls with a Sphere."

"Daleks?" Pete tried interjecting at the unknown word.

"Don't ask," Alison waved off and the Doctor continued as if no one had spoken other than himself.

"Then the Cybermen travelled across, then you lot. Those discs." He held up the one that had been used to teleport himself to the parallel world. "Every time you jump from one reality to another, you rip a hole in the universe. This planet is starting to boil. Keep going and both worlds will fall into the Void.

"It had to be that way," Alison pointed out in a cold and calculated voice.

"What?" Pete and the Doctor called out at nearly the same time with the matched amount of anger at the girl, but she continued as if they had said nothing.

"No one will die because of it, not here, not there. Not because of the pressure of the world's colliding at least," She pointed to the blank wall referencing the Doctor's universe. "But your Sparrow's plan won't work, so we need the medallions, Rose needs them because you already know what you have to do."

"Seal the breach," he finished, any anger melting away as he realised what would need to happen. "But that would leave five million Cybermen stranded on my Earth."

"That's your problem," Pete chimed in, almost as uncaring as Alison had been. "I'm protecting this world, and this world only."

"Hm. Pete Tyler," The Doctor's head snapped back to Pete as he scoffed. "I knew you when you were dead. Now here you are, fighting the fight alone," he paused, letting the words sink in. "There is a chance, back on my world, Jackie Tyler might still be alive."

Pete hardly considered it as he shook her head. "My wife died."

"Her husband died. Good match," he shrugged.

"There's more important things at stake."

"The world is ending- two worlds," Alison corrected herself. "And you're trying to set up a date for Rose Tyler's parents," the girl chuckled as she shook her head jokingly. "Throughout your regenerations some things never change, Doctor."

"I've told you, she's not my-" Pete tried objecting, but Alison cut him off as she swiped her hand across the air.

"Pete, give us a moment. Jake, take those two and see what additional weapons you can find, if any," she directed herself to the three commandos and they left without question as Pete even did as he was told and out stepped into the only corridor to leave the two alone.

The Doctor watched after the man as he left and turned back to Alison, raising his eyebrows at her. "How far up are you on the line of command you can order a Tyler around?"

Alison actually cracked a genuine smile at this. "It took me a while, but I'm as high as anyone hopes to go. Just like there's Torchwood, there's UNIT; Geneva just loathes when I visit to debunk their latest theories. Plus, during its Golden Age, the President never turns down my advice."

The Doctor perked up at the mention of Britain's current era. "Who's the President now?" he asked.

"Harriet Jones," Alison answered knowingly and the Doctor nearly flinched at the politician's name, causing the girl to chuckle. "Smart woman, but she's harmless at this rate. One conversation and now she takes my counsel on command."

All joking disappeared as Alison looked back to the Doctor and her expression sombered. "Sparrow has this idea. I'm assuming she's told you what will happen to Rose."

"In her own way," the Doctor mentioned skeptically, not entirely sure what Alison was getting at, but willing to listen. The girl didn't say anything for a moment, but he waited.

"It won't work," she eventually responded. "So I need you to make sure that Rose travels back over here with Pete and her family before she can try. I'd rather spare her the hope."

"You'd rather I let Sparrow live with doubt, than let her try?" he asked, almost angry that this girl who looked so much like his companion would ask him to do such a thing. He thought they may have been similar before, but obviously he was wrong.

"I'd rather her not be crushed with despair because she thought she failed to save her friend."

The Doctor's face fell as he realised what Alison was trying to do, to save her from, and nodded. "Why are you telling me this?" he eventually asked. For once, Alison's face contorted into confusion at the question, so he clarified. "Sparrow will never tell me anything. Why are you?"

"Because I'm from her future," Alison explained. "I _am _her future." She could see the Doctor was about to object at the mention of this, but she held her hand up, stopping him from speaking again. "You don't need to tell me about the repercussions. I know full well what my actions may cause and I've limited my interaction so the result is minimal."

Then her face turned hard and clinical again, like an invisible wall was put up as she distanced herself, both physically and emotionally. "But Sparrow can never know I'm telling you this. She'll figure it out herself in her own time, but for now," Alison shook her head, never finishing the thought. "Do you understand?" she asked with a sigh.

The Doctor nodded. Alison had given him all the information she could, and now he would do his best to follow the girl's direction to create as positive an outcome as he could. "Yes," was all he responded.

The girl nodded, and called out of the room. "Pete!" The man reappeared almost immediately, followed by the three soldiers again. "It's time to go," she instructed.

"Had a nice chat while Cybermen are tearing the world apart?" the man asked mockingly. Alison just shrugged at him so he turned to the Doctor expectantly. "Doctor, can you do it?"

"What, close the breach? Stop the Cybermen? Defeat the Daleks?" he asked almost disbelievingly. "Do you believe I can do that?"

"Who better?" Alison smirked and it mirrored Sparrow's own the Doctor would normally expect to see.

The Doctor gave an enthusiastic shrug of his own. "Maybe that's all I need. Off we go, then!" He cheered and placed the dimensional transporter around his neck. Before slamming his hand on the button and sending the group back to his world, the Doctor glanced at Alison and frowned. He didn't know what made her so cold and reserved, but feared for his Sparrow that it could be changed for her. He hoped she would never have to become like that, how he had once been.

He pressed the button on the yellow medallion and the three were gone in a spark of electricity, leaving nothing but empty space where they had once stood, and the two soldiers now in Alison's command again as she dismissed them.

She gazed at the spot and just sighed knowing that, though she tried, there was nothing she could really do. She tried to give the Doctor hope, make it seem like there was a positive outcome, but really she was just preparing him, because Sparrow would need more support than he ever would.

* * *

Not too long later, the dark, cold room of the abandoned Torchwood Institute sparked to life again as new beings teleported into the world, this time much more than had left last time. Rose was there, in the parallel world, but only for a moment until she jumped back to her home world. Her parents, Pete and Jackie, tried to stop her, but it didn't work.

As soon as Jackie saw Alison and mistook her for Sparrow, that led to a frustrating conversation. Just as Sparrow had issues with the woman's personality, so did her twin as she tried to remain reassuring, though forceful to get her point across. But it was all a distraction.

Pete would need to realise that Jackie was the same person as his dead wife, that Rose was his daughter, and that he needed to save her. When he did, the result was less pleasing than expected.

Rose had survived, she wasn't sucked through the breach and into the void, but she had practically lost a part of her family, even though she had others around her as well.

Alison watched the girl pound against the blank white wall and shout for the Doctor and Sparrow, begging to be brought back to them. "Rose," she called out from the back of the room and nearly everyone turned to look at her, even the blonde.

"Sparrow?" She almost broke into a new wave of tears at the thought that Sparrow, her best friend, might have been trapped with her, away from the Doctor, the man she was sure she loved even if she never said it.

The girl shook her head in answer though. "No. I'm so sorry." For once her voice wasn't hard and clinical. Instead, it was actually warm and soothing as she smiled apologetically at the girl.

Alison decided then she would tell Rose, tell the girl her story and what she knew. The Doctor would never be able to know, perhaps not even Sparrow, but for Rose's sake, she would explain it all just at the chance to ease the girl's pain, to help the girl she herself had once called friend.

* * *

**Now we know a bit more about Alison, but it's unfortunate, I have to say, that we won't be seeing much of her for a while. At least you can look forward to at least one more appearance of the doppelganger (bet you can guess which chapter/episode that will be), though it may not be as you expect.**

**I have to say, it's fun writing Alison because it's a darker, more scarred side of Sparrow we have yet to see. And just to clarify, Alison is indeed Sparrow from a different point in her timeline. But which part, and how far?! Look forward to answers in the future and more updates in this and other _The Sparrow and the Doctor_ stories soon!**

**Love.**


	4. Play Time

**Hello all! This is a short little chapter that is _very_ relevant to the story later on. I would suggest reading it as it will explain a lot of what will happen later on in the sequel. That's right, I said sequel.**

**After I finish this "season" (Martha's story arcs) in _The Sparrow and the Doctor_, the story will continue on as a new fiction. I'm letting people know a head of time just in case. **

**But back to this specific chapter, it's the TARDIS poking a little fun at Sparrow, but also causing a little mischief. A nice little side story to keep you guys occupied until the next chapter of the real story comes out. **

* * *

Play Time

"Where is it?" Sparrow muttered to herself frantically as she stalked into the console room, only a dressing gown wrapped around herself, hair and body still soaked as water droplets splattered onto the metal grating.

She had taken a well needed shower, enjoying the warmth of the pelting water on her head as it washed away the filth of their last adventure. _So much dirt_, Sparrow groaned as she scrubbed the caked layers of grime from her arm. _We had to go to the planet of mud and gunk. Thanks Doctor, really._

She finally stepped out of the shower and patted her body down with a towel before slipping the green dressing gown over her shoulders. But as she moved to quickly towel dry her hair, she stopped, noticing something missing from the counter.

The gold Victorian watch that Sparrow wore everywhere was gone. She explicitly remembered placing it on the bathroom counter by the sink before even stripping her clothes and tossing them in the corner. Regardless, she checked the pile of discarded clothes anyway, hoping it was just a lapse in her memory. Nothing.

Confused, she crossed the hall to search her room. She didn't think she would have left it there, but it wasn't where she normally put it and didn't know what else to do. She had torn the room apart, and as expected, there was no watch, so now she was storming into the control room, glaring at the console, almost certain the TARDIS had done something.

"Where is it? What did you do?" Sparrow demanded, but the machine didn't respond. "Quit mucking about."

She stared harshly at the Time Rotor, as if it were an actual person she were glaring every ounce of her annoyance into, and declared herself at the machine. "I know you've seen into my mind, and I'm no Clara Oswald. You cannot mess with me like you will her!" There was a short pause as she remembered the events of Clara and her missing bed. "And I swear to God, if a future me walks through those doors right now, I'm going to have some words. Now, I don't have time for this. Where is it?"

She thumped her fist down on the edge of the console as the Doctor walked in, exclaiming at her action. "Oi! What was that for?"

The girl turned to look at him with a scowl on her lips. "The TARDIS look my watch while I was in the shower, and now she won't tell me where she's put it!"

He looked between Sparrow and the TARDIS, trying to hold back a laugh. "Well, how do you know she did it?"

Sparrow switched her glare from the ship to the Doctor now. "I never let that watch out of my sight. It's been in my family for ages, practically the only thing I have left of them."

The Doctor moved forward to stand in front of the console with her, trying to ignore the fact that she was only in a robe and practically dripping wet still. He cleared his throat and tried to coax the TARDIS into complying. "Come on now, that's Sparrow's watch. What use does a transdimensional, time travelling spaceship want with a wrist watch anyway?"

The lights in the control room flickered as the TARDIS hummed tauntingly at the two of them. The Doctor frowned. "Well, that's just rude."

"So it's not just me," Sparrow pointed out as she flicked her hand to the Time Rotor accusingly. She was slightly relieved that the TARDIS didn't decide to develop a sudden grudge against her, but that still didn't solve her problem. "Why are you doing this? What have I ever done to you? I just want my watch back?" she pleaded as she dropped her head and the Doctor's seemed to be staring where the girl had once been pointing.

Inside the cylindrical center of the ship, right at the base of the rotor was the girl's golden watch, shrouded in mist as it seemed to be swirling directly around it. "You mean that watch?"

Her head snapped back up and sure enough, inside the Time Rotor was Sparrow's Victorian watch, the lid popped open as it just sat in the center. "You piece of scrap," she mumbled under her breath as she stared at the accessory just out of reach. She looked around at the centerpiece of the console, but there appeared to be no hatch or opening that would allow the girl to get her watch back.

Sparrow pushed the sleeves over her dressing gown up her arm and began circling the control console to the TARDIS, inspecting each and every control, even the miniscule ones that may have done nothing at all. "Isn't there some way to get it out of there?" she called over the controls to the Doctor. "Some sort of button or switch." When he didn't answer, Sparrow turned to question him directly. "Didn't your second regeneration get his recorder stuck in there before? How'd you get it out? Hello?"

The Doctor didn't seem to be paying attention to the girl, but rather still her watch as it sat untouched in the case. "I think she's doing something to it. Look." He directed Sparrow to look at her watch again, and even though she was aggravated the TARDIS was playing games with her, she turned to look as well.

Annoyance turned to curiosity as she watched the mist that had just been sitting around the accessory begin to spin into a miniature cyclone. It spun faster and faster until it gained enough force to begin swirling the watch at the base of the rotor.

"Oh, no, no, no!" Sparrow objected as she leaned forward and pressed her hands on the glass as if it would help to stop the mist. "You're going to break it, be careful."

The lights in the room flashed again and there was a light chirping from the console. Sparrow frowned at the jests the TARDIS was taunting her with. "This is not funny," she scowled up at the machine again, and the Doctor couldn't contain his laughter any longer as he watched the flustered girl fighting with his ship over a piece of jewelry.

Her head snapped towards the man and she sneered at him, though it didn't deter him at all. "Oh, I think she's just playing with you. Like the time she inverted your room because you wondered what it would feel like."

Sparrow's scowl only deepened as she remembered that little party trick the TARDIS had pulled on her before, but quickly directed herself back to the task at hand; trying to get the ship to return her watch. The cyclone had now gained enough speed to fully pick the watch off the base and twirl it around the Time Rotor inside the cylindrical case. It dipped up and down as Sparrow tried pleading again.

"Please," she dragged out the word desperately. "I don't get why you're doing this. To my watch of all things!"

When the ship made no indication that it was going to respond, Sparrow steeled herself, set her jaw, and challenged the TARDIS with a stern look. "Now you listen here, I don't know what's gotten into you but I am _at least_ a co-pilot of this damn ship. At least! So you _will_ listen to me." As her voice grew, the cyclone of mist the ship had created to trap the girl's watch began to dissipate, and slowly it began to settle back down to the base of the Time Rotor.

"And believe me when I tell you that it is not below me to rip off these grates, shut down your entire systems, and break my way inside there to get back what's mine, poisonous gas or not. Do you understand me?" Sparrow growled as the watch settle on the base of the Time Rotor again, unmoving as no one, not Sparrow nor the TARDIS, made a single sound.

The Doctor watched nearby, waiting for the ship to react, wondering what her next move would be. When the seconds dragged on, he motioned to the console, hoping to avoid any further conflict. "Now, old girl," he cautioned, more worried of Sparrow's threat or what else she might do if she got even more worked up.

Then the TARDIS finally reacted. A small hatch opened under the glittering watch and it fell through of the Time Rotor and out of view. Sparrow inhaled sharply at this action, but made no move as she kept herself held firm. There was almost no delay this time as a small compartment opened at the base of the control console, right in front of the girl, baring to her the "stolen" watch.

Sparrow finally exhaled as she closed her eyes and relaxed, calming herself from what she was sure was only a few moments away from an aneurysm, if Time Lords could even get those. She grabbed the watch, placed it on her wrist, and flashed a small, triumphant smile at the TARDIS above her. "Thank you," she breathed.

Her gaze shifted to the Doctor and her smile shifted to a smirk. "I'm going to finish getting ready," she informed. "Can I expect a new adventure by the time I get done?"

"Um, uh, sure," he quickly answered, still slightly amazed how she was able to challenge the TARDIS and win a she did.

"Good," the girl smiled and leaned in to give the Doctor a quick peck on his cheek.

Then she turned to retreat down the side corridor, waving over her shoulder at the man, happy to have back what little she had to remind her of her old life. What she didn't notice as she made it back to her room and proceeded to get dressed, was the faint glow that seemed to be emanating from her watch. A glittering, golden glow of energy that only shined for a brief moment, unseen by Sparrow, until it dissipated into nothing but the natural glint of the watch just catching the lights above.

* * *

**The TARDIS can be a crafty little thing. I wouldn't want to get on her bad side. **

**What would a time travelling spaceship want with an old wrist watch anyway? I suppose you all will just have to stay tuned to the main story to find out. There will be one more _Tales from the TARDIS_ chapter before I post the next true chapter of the story. Worry not, because it should be out shortly. Hopefully within in the next week or two (trying to make reasonable expectations rather than say a few days and come up with crap).**

**Love.**


	5. Gridlock

**So, This is just a shortened version of the corresponding episode. I didn't really feel like doing the entire chapter, so I just did the important bits, with Boe, because of reasons. **

** In the future I might redo this as a whole "episode" but to move things along, we'll leave it as is and continue on.**

* * *

Gridlock

The Doctor, Novice Hame, and Sparrow landed harshly in a dark room as they began to recover.

"Ow," Sparrow groaned as she rubbed her head, rising from the ground.

"Oh! Rough teleport. Ow," the Doctor agreed.

As they pulled themselves up, they were barely able to make anything else out besides rubble and shadows.

Once he had collected himself, the Doctor immediately turned on the cat. "You can go straight back down and teleport people out, starting with Martha," he declared, stalking towards her at the hope of being able to save the girl who had been kidnapped.

"I only had the power for one trip," she defended, pointing out the flaw in his plan.

"Then get some more! Where are we?" He tried looking around, but there was nothing else that could be seen.

"High above, in the over-city."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Good. Because you can tell the Senate of New New York I'd like a word."

"It won't make a difference," Sparrow provided solemnly as she squinted far above in the dark, trying to make out the shape of the stands she knew were there.

"We still have to try. There are thousands of people trapped on the motorway. Millions!"

"But you're inside the Senate, right now," Novice Hame pointed out. Then her face turned grave as she pressed a button on her bracelet and the space around them was illuminated with light. "May the goddess Santori bless them."

Above them were large stadium like rows of benches. All that was left of the Senate was over a hundred skeletons, toppled in their seats as they sat unmoved since the day they died. Sparrow swallowed harshly at the sight as she tried to divert her attention from the bodies while Novice Hame continued.

"They died, Doctor. The city died."

The man's voice was much calmer, more sincere as he spoke, seeing the disaster the city was left in. "How long's it been like this?"

"Twenty four years," Novice Hame answered as the Doctor wandered towards one of the skeletons that had fallen to the platform below on their level. This time Sparrow tried not to look so closely at the person, whoever they might have been.

"All of them? Everyone? What happened?"

"A new chemical. A new mood. They called it Bliss." Novice Hame bent down and picked the drug labeled patch off the skeleton and tossed it aside as if were tarnishing the body. "Everyone tried it. They couldn't stop. A virus mutated inside the compound and became airborne. Everything perished. Even the virus, in the end. It killed the world in seven minutes flat. There was just enough time to close down the walkways and the flyovers, sealing off the under-city. Those people on the motorway aren't lost, Doctor. They were saved."

"So the whole thing down there is running on automatic," he noted, realising why the people below had no choice but to go around and around with no hope of exit.

"There's not enough power to get them out. We did all we could to stop the system from choking."

"Who's _we_? How did you survive?"

"He protected me," she answered gratefully. "And he has waited for you these long years."

_Sparrow._

Sparrow smiled as soon as she heard the voice in her head and ran off around a corner to find the source. She was delighted to see the giant head in his glass tank, sitting at the side of the room.

She wanted to call out to him using his real name, to call him Jack, but knew she wouldn't be able to with the Doctor nearby. But as she neared the tank, she felt a familiar warmth wrap around her mind in comfort and knew he understood the relief and affection she wished to greet him with.

"Boe," Sparrow simply greeted him as she knelt in front of the glass container. She felt the Doctor kneel beside her and turned to smile at the man.

_I knew you would come, _the voice echoed in all their heads and Sparrow turned her smile to him, placing a delicate hand upon the glass separating them.

"Back in the old days, I was made his nurse as penance for my sin," Novice Hame explained.

The Doctor could tell something off in the Face of Boe, could feel how weak he was, and asked, "Old friend, what happened to you?"

_Failing, _he answered, his condition evident in his voice.

"He protected me from the virus by shrouding me in his smoke," the cat continued. "But with no one to maintain it, the City's power died. The under-city would have fallen into the sea."

"And you wired yourself into the system to keep everyone alive. You're killing yourself so they can live," Sparrow summarised as she tore her eyes away only to glance at the mass of wires from the tank that led to a series of computers. She felt another wave of warmth around her mind in assurance, answering her words, and it made the girl swallow harshly at the thought of her friend truly dying.

"But there are planets out there. You could have called for help," the Doctor offered, looking back at Novice Hame, but she simply shook her head.

"The last act of the Senate was to declare New Earth unsafe. The automatic quarantine lasts for one hundred years."

"So the two of you stayed here, on your own for all these years."

"We had no choice," she offered, but the Doctor rose to comfort her, hearing the distress in her voice.

"Yes, you did," he smiled, placing a hand on her shoulder, and she smiled back at him.

_Save them, Doctor. Save them._

Luckily, with two computer geniuses in the room, the Doctor and Sparrow managed to get the system partially up and running again. They weren't able to restore power to the entire city, but we're at least able to get a proper readout of the under-city's motorway.

"Car four six five diamond six. It still registers!" the Doctor cheered as he found the vehicle listed on the screen. "That's Martha. I knew she was good. Novice Hame, hold that in place." He turned and instructed the cat to keep a piece of equipment propped up, then tore at his hair trying to come up with a plan. "Think, think, think, think. Take the residual energy, invert it, feed it through the electricity grid."

"There isn't enough power," Novice Hame tried interjected.

"Yes, but if we fold it back through the system," Sparrow pointed out as she found a panel, accessing the inner workings of the systems computers.

The Doctor's eyes lit up with hope as he realised what she was talking about. "Oh, beautiful! Hame, every switch on that bank up to maximum. That should give us just enough power."

"So what are you going to do?" Novice Hame asked, partially in awe but also skepticism.

"This!" he declared and threw a large switch to activate the makeshift system they had set up, but something went wrong. The lights cut out and the machines they had all worked so hard to activate again could be heard powering down.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no. The transformers are blocked. The signal can't get through."

"Just give me a second. Now, don't you dare do anything yet," Sparrow instructed, and pressed farther into the exposed panel she had opened. "There's that emergency broadcast that goes out to every single car on the motor way. If I can just tap into that, ride the signal, we might be able to,"

There was a blast of sparks and electricity right in front of the girl's face. The Doctor was about to call out to her when suddenly the lights began to activate again, all the computers with them. They were solid for only a few meager seconds until they began to fade and flicker between activated and not.

The girl pulled herself out of the panel and cried, "No, there's still not enough power! If I can just-"

_Sparrow._

"Don't you do it," she shouted, almost angry that the Face of Boe would even consider giving up his life when there was still so much left they could try. But there was the constraint of time.

_I give you my last._ He struggled and groaned in his tank as all his life seemed to leave him with a sigh.

"No!"

"Hame, look after him." The Doctor gritted his teeth as he hoped the Face of Boe would survive. He wanted to check on him, just as he was sure Sparrow did, but they had to save everyone on the motorway first, save Martha, as they turned back to the equipment. "Don't you go dying on me, you big old face. You've got to see this. The open road. Ha!"

"The signal's holding, Doctor, and the hatches are open. If you're going to do this, do it now before we have any more power loss," Sparrow informed, manipulating various controls as a live broadcast was sent out to every feed on the motorway.

The man nodded and called out to all the lost souls no longer trapped. All they had to do was listen to his instruction. "Sorry, no Sally Calypso. She was just a hologram. My name's the Doctor, and this is an order. Everyone drive up. Right now. I've opened the roof of the motorway. Come on. Throttle those engines. Drive up. All of you. The whole under-city. Drive up, drive up, drive up! Fast! We've got to clear that fast lane. Drive up and get out of the way. Oi! Car four six five diamond six. Martha! Drive up! You've got access above. Now go!"

"Have you got it from here?" Sparrow asked, peeking over her shoulder at the Doctor.

"Yes, go," he answered, and Sparrow nodded as she did so.

She ran from the controls and turned to the Face of Boe where he looked to be struggling to remain conscious inside his tank.

"Hey. Hey there, old fella. Stay with me now," she tried urging.

_My little Sparrow. Sing me one final song before I go. _His voice was weak in Sparrow's mind, even more so than before.

"There's no need, because you're not going anywhere. You have to promise me, Jack." Tears were growing in Sparrow's vision and they burned her eyes, but this time she didn't try to fight them as they continued to well. "Promise me that you won't leave me."

_Sparrow, _There was a brief moment that the warmth in the girl's mind tightened around her, filled her with hope that he would be alright, that he would recover. _That's one order I won't be able to follow, _The Face of Boe sighed, his breathing becoming more laboured.

"No!" She placed her hand on the glass tank again, but upon contact with the pane, a crack grew under her fingers.

"Doctor!" Novice Hame called, and in a single instant, all Sparrow's hope seemed destroyed as it fell away with the shattered glass of the broken tank.

"You can't die," she sobbed now, tears finally flowing down her cheeks.

The Doctor was there then, holding the girl with one arm as she reached out to Boe, caressing his overgrown face. She barely registered Martha enter until the Doctor pulled away from her to comfort the other girl, assure her that the dying head was a friend and the real hero of the city.

"My lord gave his life to save the city, and now he's dying," Novice Hame explained.

"No, you can't die," Sparrow repeated again through sobs.

_It's good to breathe the air once more._

"You were supposed to, to live forever. You were supposed to always be out there, n-not dying.

"Who is he?" Martha asked, also wondering who he was to upset Sparrow so much upon his death.

"I don't even know. Legend says the Face of Boe has lived for billions of years. Isn't that right? And you're not about to give up now," the Doctor assured, trying to keep the Face of Boe alive just a little bit longer.

_Everything has its time. You know that, old friend, better than most. _

"Don't say that!" Sparrow was shouting through her tears, angry that he would be giving up so easily. But even then, she knew that wasn't the case.

"The legend says more," Novice Hame started, but the Doctor cut her off.

"Don't," he warned, concerned not only for the dying face, but also Sparrow's sanity by that point. "There's no need for that."

Despite this, and the redhead's obvious adverse reaction, she continued anyway. "It says that the Face of Boe will speak his final secret to a pair travelers."

"But you don't have to. Who says you have to tell us now? Can't it wait? Can't you keep it from us just a bit longer? A thousand years, a hundred? Hell, what's an extra decade?" Sparrow tried bargaining, hoping she could fill the old face with some extra spirit. "You _can't_ die. You promised you would listen to me. Listen to me!" Her breath shook violently as she somehow managed to shout each word between her own cries.

Each of the Face of Boe's breaths were short and wheezy and what little expression could be seen in his face was haggard now as he forced himself to find the energy to speak. _I have seen so much. Perhaps too much. I am the last of my kind, as you two are the last of yours._

"That's why we have to survive. All of us." The Doctor wrapped his hand around Sparrow's squeezing it tightly for his own support as well as hers.

"Don't go."

_I must. _

"No," Sparrow croaked one last time.

_But know this, Time Lords. You are not alone. _He exhaled with his words and his eyes drifted closed, but he never inhaled again. Never fluttered his eyes open one last time.

Sparrow had managed to restrain herself, to try and contain her emotional outbursts, but as she felt the warmth of the Face of Boe's presence unwrap from her own mind and retract, she yelled out from the pain she felt and fell into a new series of sobs. There was no holding back this time, no strong stone of a face for Sparrow to hide her true feelings behind.

As the Doctor held the girl in his arms and tried to console her, she cried aloud into his chest as violent sobs shook her entire body. How could she not, how could she possibly try to hide it all when she knew Captain Jack Harkness was gone from the universe forever.

* * *

**Like I said, I might end up redoing this as a whole episode in the future, but for now it will remain as a short little spin off chapter, though totally canon to the story as are the rest of these. **

**Poor Sparrow though, imagine knowing who the Face of Boe really was, but you couldn't tell anyone. Although, it probably would be alright for her to tell the Doctor about this. Perhaps I'll write it into the next chapter.**

**Speaking of which, r****eal story chapter update coming next. **


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